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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

WANT TO SEE SOME BLUEBONNETS?

Texas didn't name the bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis, the state flower for nothing.

 In fact it is hard to imagine that they ever thought of having any other plant as their state flower when they began the selection process in 1901. Someone suggested the cotton boll, as cotton was certainly king at the time. Another wanted the prickly pear cactus. In the end it was the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America who put forward the buffalo clover or bluebonnet, Lupinus subcarnosus. And so this diminutive bluebonnet which grows in the sandy soils of the south Texas plains became the state flower. Now began the arguments. Others wanted L.texensis, a far more showy bluebonnet, to be the state flower. It took 70 years before the argument was settled. In 1971 the legislature combined the two species and "any other variety not heretofore recorded" There are actually three more species, L. havardii, L. cocinnus and L. plattensis.


Leaving the house is becoming increasingly difficult as L. texensis takes over every available inch of space smothering everything in its path.


Inside my walls, outside my walls. They are everywhere.






They sure are beautiful.

25 comments:

  1. Gorgeous display!

    They have been amazing this year.

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  2. So beautiful. They look so lush and plentiful:) Great year for them with all the rain. Missed them last year.

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  3. What an awesome wildflower year! Beautiful 'bonnets!

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  4. They're spectacular! The last shot calls me...want to find myself sitting in the chair admiring the display!

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  5. wowzers! they're making up for last year for sure!

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  6. Love your bonnets! They are just now starting to make their debut for the season around here.

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  7. Brilliant display. I just love the huge drifts of them everywhere you look.

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  8. Yay, I love bluebonnets! So beautiful.

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  9. so happy to see these beautiful blue bonnets, makes me miss my home state even more than blue bell ice cream and brisket.... well, maybe not THAT much.

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  10. I like your line about not being able to leave the house because of the bluebonnets--how horrible, to be held captive by such beauty!

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  11. Man am I happy I found this blog! Fantastic info and beautiful inspiring photos. I am reading my way through the archives and have especially enjoyed your view of New Zealand (where I live) and the plants that live here. I have a large country garden in Auckland and always love reading and seeing others' gardening exploits. Here is a thread about my garden recorded over the past few years: http://forums.mooseyscountrygarden.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1711

    As we wind down into winter (after the most dismal wet summer ever) I am keen to read of your spring/summer gardens. Can't wait for more! Kerry.

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    1. Hi Kerry. Thanks for visiting. we had a wonderful trip to New Zealand-rain and all. I'll be checking out your garden when I have a minute.

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  12. Lovely, lovely. I adore bluebonnets and felt so lucky to be in Texas a couple of springs ago when they were in their glory. Oh that color. Thank goodness Ladybird Johnson loved her natives. I feel her presence along the roadsides and in the meadows.

    Yes, that is an English robin who followed me around Beatrix Potter's garden at Hilltop. Loved him so much.

    Joys to you,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

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    1. I do so love the English robin and Hilltop too. I grew up near the lake district. So beautiful.

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  13. Love those bluebonnets naturalized throughout your garden. And congrats on having your garden featured in Southern Living magazine. I'm going to try to find a copy way up north here in Indiana... a great reminder that your garden was one of the first I saw when I visited Austin for the first garden bloggers' fling.

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    1. Thanks Carol. Glad you were able to visit that day. Hope you find a copy.

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  14. Well look at that! They look beautiful in your garden. A job well done, m'am!

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  15. Found you through the Southern Living Article. You've done exactly what I'm working on. You've made the rock look gorgeous with all of the Texas natives. I'm just north of you near Killeen, so this will work for me. Thanks for the awesome inspiration!!

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    1. Jean. Glad you found me and yes I love the rocks and natives. I rather wish they had filmed in the front garden where we have a dry creek bed but they must have thought it too rocky for their readership.

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  16. I wish I had your problem Jenny! I would love to have a field of Texas bluebonnets in my backyard, I'm so nostalgic for them. I can't wait to see the spread in Southern Living. And I feel so lucky to have seen your garden in person, especially in spring!

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  17. Your bluebonnets are spectacular this year! As a native Texan (living up in Fort Worth) I do so appreciate wonderful bluebonnet photos. I just received my Southern Living magazine in the mail, and really enjoyed the article about your beautiful gardens. Congratulations! The photos were just lovely, but many of your own photos are even better. :) Still, I have been a huge fan of SL for many, many years.

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  18. What a great year for bluebonnets, to make up for last year's abysmal showing. Yours look fabulous!

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